Device for delivering print shop products supplied in a product stream on two separate stacks

ABSTRACT

A device for delivering print shop products supplied in a product stream in two separate stacks contains a transport belt on which the print shop products are deposited, a first deflection roller, a second deflection roller arranged in an horizontal plane with the first deflection roller, a third deflection roller arranged below the second deflection roller, and a stationary fourth deflection roller arranged below the third deflection roller and guiding the transport belt. An actuator jointly moves the second and third deflection rollers in parallel with a horizontal plane from a first delivery position, in which the print shop products are transported to a first stop, into a second delivery position, in which the print shop products are transported to a further stop. First and second first adjustment devices change a distance between the bottom of the respective first and second product receiving spaces and the horizontal plane.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119, of Germanapplication DE 10 2013 002 754.3, filed Feb. 19, 2013; the priorapplication is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a device for delivering print shop products, inparticular book blocks or books, that are supplied in a stream ofproducts, on two separate stacks.

U.S. design patent DD 233545 A1, Swiss patent CH 663385 A5(corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,198), German patent DE 19628128 B4and German patent DE 19628129 B4 disclose compensating stackers and bookblock stackers that are provided downstream of a bindery machine in theproduction of print shop products provided in a continuous stream ofproducts. The aforementioned documents do not provide information on thedelivery of print shop products of different formats in multipleseparate stacks during an ongoing production run. In addition, thedevices disclosed in the aforementioned documents do not allow a changeof format settings during an ongoing production run.

In addition, the aforementioned compensation stackers and book blockstackers are comparatively complex in terms of technology as well asprone to failures and expensive due to the fact that they include partsmoving in accordance with the cycle of the machine. Consequently, theyare mainly used in connection with high-performance print shop machinerywhich is generally too expensive for small-run producers.

A further problem of the aforementioned compensation stackers and bookblock stackers is that they may not be simultaneously used as deliverydevices for multiple adhesive binders or to process the products of oneor more digital printing machines because a mixed mode of operationinvolving different print shop products, i.e. print shop products ofdifferent formats, is not available due to the fact that switchingbetween different formats during an on-going production is impossible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a deviceand a method for delivering print shop products that are supplied in astream of products, in particular book blocks or books, in at least twoseparate stacks without interrupting the supplied product stream of theprint shop products.

In accordance with the invention, a device for delivering print shopproducts, in particular book blocks or books, supplied in a productstream, onto at least two separate stacks contains an endlesslyrevolving transport belt on which the print shop products are depositedas a stream of products as they are being supplied. The device furthercontains a stationary upstream upper deflection roller and a secondupper deflection roller arranged downstream of the first upperdeflection roller as viewed in the supplying direction of the print shopproducts. The second upper deflection roller is arranged generally in ahorizontal plane with the first deflection roller and is preferablylinearly movable relative to the latter in parallel with the horizontalplane. Below the second deflection roller, there is a third deflectionroller, which is jointly movable with the second deflection roller andbelow which there is in turn at least one stationary fourth deflectionroller that guides the transport belt.

The device of the invention further contains an actuator such aspneumatic cylinder or an electric actuating drive. Via a traction drive,the actuator acts on the second and third deflection rollers, which arearranged at a fixed distance and are preferably mechanically coupled toeach other to jointly move the deflection rollers linearly and in adirection parallel to the horizontal plane, from a first deliveryposition in which the print shop products are conveyed leading side (ingeneral the book spine since this simplifies the stacking of untrimmedproducts) first against a first stop arranged above a product receivingspace for the first stack, into a second delivery position in which theprint shop products of the product stream are conveyed leading sidefirst on the transport belt to a further stop arranged above a furtherproduct receiving space for the further stack. The device furthercontains first and second adjustment devices. The first adjustmentdevice acts on the bottom of the first product receiving space and thesecond adjustment device acts on the bottom of the second productreceiving space to increase the distance between the bottom of therespective product receiving space and the horizontal plane in which theproducts on the transport belt are conveyed to the product receivingspaces arranged below the transport belt, after or during theintroduction of a product and thus to provide space towards the top fora following product.

An advantage of the invention is that the transfer length of thetransport belt is adaptable to print shop products of different formatsduring an ongoing production run. This only requires the second andthird deflection rollers to be moved backward or forward by the actuatorthrough a corresponding adjustment path in accordance with therespective format of a print shop product currently to be deposited. Inthe process, the tension in the transport belt remains unchanged due tothe belt guiding system of the invention and the constant distancebetween the two deflection rollers. It is only the position of thesecond deflection roller above the first or second product receivingspace that is changed. Consequently, the device of the invention allowsprint shop products of different formats to be supplied in one productstream and to collect them in different stacks. Broadly speaking, usingthe device of the invention, it is possible to stack a variety ofdifferent print shop products that are supplied in one product stream(mixed mode of operation) in a correctly sorted manner.

In contrast, the adaptation of the device of the invention to thethickness of the supplied print shop products is achieved by the firstor second adjustment device in that the path through which the bottom ofthe respective product receiving space that is to receive a next printshop product is to be moved is extended or shortened in accordance withthe thickness of the print shop product. This allows print shop productsof varying thickness to be alternatingly and gently deposited on one andthe same stack without the risk of damage to a product as it is beingdeposited in the product receiving space due to the fact that there istoo great a distance between the upper side of the previously depositedproduct and the horizontal plane in which the products are supplied onthe transport belt. In other words, by lowering the stacking belt in acontrolled way, it is possible to react to varying product thicknesses,in particular varying book block thicknesses while the productioncontinues.

A further advantage of the invention is that the belt systems that areused as well as roller systems, which will be described in more detailbelow, do not cause any relative movements between the productsthemselves nor between the products and the transporting device.

To control the selection of the desired product receiving space and thelowering of the respective bottoms of the product receiving spaces orstacking tables, the device of the invention preferably contains anelectronic control device. Once a print shop product has been introducedinto a product receiving space, the electronic control device actuatesthe actuator and the adjustment devices in such a way that before thenext print shop product is introduced, the bottom of the productreceiving space is lowered to an extent that essentially corresponds tothe thickness of the introduced print shop products.

The electronic control device may be coupled to a sensor and/or a memorythat detects and/or has saved the presence of print shop products andthe type of print shop product conveyed on the transport belt inparticular in the region of the second deflection roller. The productspreferably bear information carriers such as bar codes, QR codes, orRFID chips that contain encoded information, in particular informationpertaining to the format and/or the thickness of the respective product.The information contained in the information carriers is detected by thecorresponding sensor and are supplied to the electronic control device,which controls the actuator and the adjustment devices as a function ofthe information on a print shop product that is being conveyed on thetransport belt and will be the next to be deposited in such a way thatthe product is deposited in the correct product receiving space, i.e. onthe correct product stack.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the seconddeflection roller and the third deflection roller are received on acommon frame, which is movably guided in a stationary guide. The framemay for instance be a box-shaped frame with four outer walls in whichthe second and third deflection rollers are supported for rotation inthe box-shaped frame. The frame is preferably guided by linear guidesarranged on both sides between the outer walls of the housing of thedevice. This results in a particularly smooth and accurate displacementof the two deflection rollers while the spacing between the twodeflection rollers remains constant at all times.

A slide plate (which is not illustrated in any detail herein) supportingthe transport belt is preferably arranged on the upper side of theframe. This slide plate extends tangentially in the horizontal plane upto the second deflection roller. An advantage of this arrangement isthat when the products are being fed to the individual product receivingspaces or stacks, the feeding plane for the product stream is largelykept constant, eliminating the danger of changes in the position of thefeeding plane of the products that are being fed as a result of asagging of the transport belt as a function of the respective weight ofa product.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention, one of themovable deflection rollers or one of the stationary deflection rollersis driven by a drive motor, in particular by an electric motor receivedwithin the roller and a reduction gearing in order to drive thetransport belt that is guided by the roller. Although it is possible todrive another deflection roller, for example the first stationarydeflection roller or the third and fourth deflection roller, driving amovable deflection roller has the advantage of allowing the differentialspeed upon a joint movement of the second and third deflection rollersin the direction towards the second product receiving space to beassisted by a corresponding increase or decrease of the rotational speedand/or of the torque introduced into the transport belt by the seconddeflection roller. In addition, this provides the option of matching theadvancing speed for a movement of the two rollers initiated by theactuator and the circumferential speed of the second deflection rollerin a suitable way to reduce slippage between the second deflectionroller and the transport belt as much as possible when the twodeflection rollers are moved from one delivery position into the otherdelivery position. In this context in particular, when the second andthird deflection rollers are being moved in the direction of the distalsecond product receiving space, the rotational speed of the seconddeflection roller may be reduced to such an extent that the surfacespeed thereof generally corresponds to the feeding speed of the productsminus the speed at which the second and third deflection rollers arebeing displaced by the actuator. This reduces the force for displacingthe frame as much as possible.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, a provisionmay be made for the bottom of the first and/or second product receivingspaces to contain a respective endless transport belt guided by at leasttwo rollers that are arranged in a generally horizontal plane and whoseaxes of rotation are generally parallel to the conveying direction ofthe print shop products that are being fed. A slide plate for supportingthe print shop products deposited as a stack on the transport belt maypreferably be provided between these two rollers. In this case, one ofthe two rollers may be driven so that a stack that has reached apredetermined stacking height may be moved in a lateral direction out ofthe product receiving area and onto a further transport belt or a rollertrack when the other product.

Alternatively, the bottoms of the first and/or second product receivingspaces may each contain a plurality of rollers that are arrangedadjacent to each other in a plane and on the upper side of which theprint shop products introduced into the respective product receivingarea are deposited as a stack. To transfer a stack that has reached adesired stacking height to a downstream conveying device such as adownstream transport belt or an inclined roller track, the first and/orsecond product receiving spaces preferably are assigned a respectivepusher device that is driven by a motor to push the print shop productsthat have been deposited on top of each other on a stack in the productreceiving space in a direction that is generally perpendicular to theconveying direction of the product stream out of the respective productreceiving space and onto the further conveying device. To actuate thepusher devices, further actuators, for example hydraulic cylinders,pneumatic cylinders, or electrical actuating drives may be provided,which are likewise controlled by the electronic control device as afunction of the information on the information carriers and/or by thecentral machine control of the print shop or bindery and in such a waythat when a desired number of products for a job is reached, the pusherdevice associated with a stack is actuated while the transport beltfeeds the conveyed products to the other product receiving space. To acertain extent, this allows print shop products to be buffered.

It is to be understood that a third, fourth, and further productreceiving spaces/containers having a corresponding stop may be providedadjacent to the second product receiving space in addition to the atleast two product receiving spaces, which are preferably embodied asproduct receiving containers that are closed on the sides but open toone side. This further product receiving space may be addressed by atranslatory displacement of the second and third deflection rollers withthe transport belt guided thereon. This provides the option of providingfurther buffering space if the transport belt conveys a product streamconsisting of three or more different print shop products. In this caseit is likewise possible to implement a sorting function by moving thesecond deflection roller back and forth between the two or more deliverypositions while the transport belt continues to run, for example inorder to feed print shop products that are produced at different timesand different speeds in different upstream machines such as adhesivebinders, thread sealing machines, saddle stitches etc. to a respectiveproduct receiving area/container. Since the product receiving containersthat form the product receiving spaces may be arranged immediatelyadjacent to each other side by side, there are no gaps between stacks,resulting in a very compact design of the device.

In order to enable the sorting of different products that are beingsupplied when multiple product receiving spaces are in use withouthaving to interrupt the product stream, the upstream processing machinesthat generate the product stream preferably create gaps between theindividual products. These gaps are preferably big enough for the timingintervals defined for the respective transport speed of the productstream to be sufficient to move the second deflection roller with thetransport belt wrapped around it to the desired delivery position.

Although the print shop products that are supplied by the transport beltare preferably book blocks or books, it is likewise possible to use thedevice of the invention to stack and collate other print shop productssuch as brochures or signatures, in particular print shop products thatare created by one or more upstream digital printing machines.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the inventionare set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodiedin a device for delivering print shop products supplied in a productstream on two separate stacks, it is nevertheless not intended to belimited to the details shown, since various modifications and structuralchanges may be made therein without departing from the spirit of theinvention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however,together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be bestunderstood from the following description of specific embodiments whenread in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of a first embodiment of a deviceaccording to the invention in which a second deflection roller is in afirst delivery position to feed print shop products to a first productreceiving space;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1with the second deflection roller with a transport belt guided thereonin a second delivery position to feed the print shop products to asecond product receiving space;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic side view of a second embodiment of the device;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic three-dimensional representation of a thirdembodiment of the invention in which the bottoms of the productreceiving spaces are embodied as stacking belts; and

FIG. 5 a diagrammatic three-dimensional representation of a fourthembodiment of the invention in which the bottoms of the productreceiving spaces are provided with rollers and the product stacks thathave been created are pushed out by pusher devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first,particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a device 1 of theinvention for delivering print shop products 2A, 2B, 2C supplied in aproduct stream 2 and contains an endlessly revolving transport belt 3 onwhich the print shop products 2A, 2B, 2C are deposited once they havebeen created by an upstream print shop machine such as a digitalprinting press or an adhesive binder, which is not illustrated in anydetail herein.

The print shop products 2A, 2B, 2C have different formats, which areindicated by reference symbols 2A, 2B, 2C. Reference symbol 2A denotes asmaller format in FIG. 1, reference symbol 2B denotes the larger formatsin FIG. 2, and reference symbol 2C denotes a further small format inFIG. 3.

As can be seen in detail from the representations shown in FIGS. 1, 2,and 3, the device 1 of the invention contains a first stationarydeflection roller 4, which is preferably mounted to rotate freely inotherwise non-illustrated side walls. As viewed in the direction ofmovement (indicated by arrow 6) of the print shop products 2A, 2B, 2C, asecond deflection roller 8A is arranged downstream of the firstdeflection roller 4 in a horizontal plane 10 defined by the upper sideof the transport belt 3. Together with a third deflection roller 8B, thesecond deflection roller 8A is received in a frame 11, which issupported to be movable in the non-illustrated side walls of the device1 by linear guides 12, which are only roughly indicated in the drawing.The frame 11 is coupled to an actuator 14, for example a hydrauliccylinder or a pneumatic cylinder or a stepping motor having a pulley anda timing belt. The actuator 14 displaces the frame 11 in a directionindicated by the double-headed arrow 16 in parallel with the horizontalplane 10 out of a first delivery position shown in FIG. 1 into a seconddelivery position shown in FIG. 2 and into a third delivery positionshown in FIG. 3.

Below the third movable deflection roller 8B, a stationary fourthdeflection roller 13 is supported to rotate freely between the sidewalls. As viewed in the horizontal direction, the fourth deflectionroller 13 is located between the two rollers 8A and 8B and furtherguides the endless transport belt 3 before the latter returns to thefirst stationary deflection roller 4. Relative to the third deflectionroller 8B, the fourth deflection roller 13 is arranged in such a waythat the transport belt 3 runs horizontally between the two rollers 8Band 13, i.e. in parallel with plane 10. In accordance with theinvention, this advantageously achieves that the tension in thetransport belt 10 does not change when rollers 8A, 8B are displaced. Therevolving transport belt 3 is driven by an electric drive motor 18,which is only diagrammatically shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and is preferablyembodied as a tubular motor located inside the second deflection roller8A.

As it is further shown in FIG. 1, the device 1 of the invention furthercontains a first product receiving space in the shape of a first productreceiving container 20A having a first stop 22A. The print shop products2A come up against the first stop 22A with their leading edges, in thecase of books or book blocks preferably with their book spines, when thetransport belt 3 in the first delivery position conveys the print shopproducts 2A against the first stop 22A. The upper side of the first stop22A, which is preferably part of that side wall of the first productreceiving container 20A that is distal to the second deflection roller8A, extends as far as shortly below the horizontal plane 10, and thedistance between the first stop 22A and the second deflection roller 8Ais slightly greater, for example by 2-5 cm, than the length of thesupplied print shop products 2A.

To modify the height of a first stack 26A, a bottom 28A of the firstproduct receiving container 20A is movable in a downward directionindicated by the double headed arrow (without reference symbol) by afirst adjustment device, for example a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder30A to create a gap for introducing a next print shop product once aprint shop product 2A has been introduced. The height of the gapessentially corresponds to the thickness of the print shop products 2A.

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, when print shop products 2B ofa larger format are supplied, frame 11 is moved into the second deliveryposition by actuating the actuator 14. If the spacing between the printshop products 2B is sufficient, this is preferably done while thetransport belt 3 continues to revolve. In this second delivery positionshown in FIG. 2, the second deflection roller 8A is located close to thefirst stop 22A at a height at which the horizontal plane 10 is a shortdistance above the first stop and the print shop products 2B areconveyed past the first stop 22A into the second product receivingspace. The second receiving space is a second product receivingcontainer 20B whose bottom 28B is vertically movable via a secondadjustment device to create a new gap for receiving a following productonce a preceding print shop product 2B has been received.

Although only two product receiving containers 20A and 20B are shown inthe exemplary embodiments, this is by no means to be understood to limitthe invention in any way. It will be apparent to those skilled in theart that more than two product receiving containers may be provided.

FIG. 3 illustrates a further embodiment. The product receivingcontainers 20A and 20B are of equal size and are dimensioned toaccommodate the maximum format of print shop products to be stacked. Asshown in FIG. 3, a suitable actuation of the actuator 14 allows thesecond deflection roller 8A to be moved into a position that also allowsprint shop products 2C of a smaller format to be deposited and stackedin the respective product receiving container 20A and 20B (asillustrated in the FIG. 3). FIG. 3 further shows that it is notdeflection roller 8A that is provided with a drive motor 18, butdeflection roller 4. The motor 18 may alternatively be associated withdeflection roller 13 since deflection roller 13 has the largest area ofcontact with the transport belt 3, an aspect which has a positiveinfluence on the driving behavior.

As shown in FIG. 4, the two bottoms of the first and second productreceiving containers/spaces 20A, 20B may contain two rollers 32A and 32Bthat are arranged in a generally horizontal plane and guide an endlesstransport belt 34A, 34B. On the upper sides of the transport belts 34A,34B the print shop products 2A, 2B introduced into the respectiveproduct receiving space 20A, 20B are deposited on stacks. At least one32 of these rollers is drivable by a non-illustrated drive to move astack 26A, 26B that has reached a desired height onto a roller track36A, 36B as indicated in FIG. 4.

Alternatively, the bottoms of the two product receiving spaces 20A, 20Bmay be embodied as roller bottoms as indicated in FIG. 5. A respectivepusher device 38A, 38B shown in FIG. 5 may push the product stacks 26A,26B from the respective roller bottom onto a roller track 36A, 36B. Theactuator 14, the drive motor 18 for the transport belt 3, first andsecond adjustment devices 30A, 30B and preferably also thenon-illustrated drives for actuating the pusher devices 38A, 38B orrollers 32A, 32B of the roller bottoms are preferably connected to anelectronic control device (not shown in any detail in the figures) thatcontrols the actuating and driving processes described above,potentially in closed-loop control. The electronic control device may becoupled to a sensor 9 that detects the presence of print shop products2A, 2B, 2C and the type of print shop product conveyed on the transportbelt 3 in particular in the region of the second deflection roller 8A.

In accordance with the invention, one of the movable deflection rollers8A, 8B or one of the stationary deflection rollers 4, 13 is driven bythe drive motor 18, in particular by an electric motor received withinthe roller and a reduction gearing 19 in order to drive the transportbelt 3 that is guided by the roller.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A device for delivering print shop productssupplied in a product stream in at least two separate stacks, the devicecomprising: an endlessly revolving transport belt on which the printshop products are deposited; a stationary upstream upper firstdeflection roller; a movable downstream upper second deflection rollerdisposed in a generally horizontal plane with said first deflectionroller; a third deflection roller disposed below said second deflectionroller and jointly movable with said second deflection roller; astationary fourth deflection roller disposed below said third deflectionroller and guiding said transport belt; a first stop; a second stop;product receiving spaces including a first product receiving spacehaving a bottom and a second product receiving space having a bottom; anactuator for jointly moving said second and third deflection rollers inparallel with the horizontal plane from a first delivery position, inwhich the print shop products are transported leading side first to saidfirst stop disposed above said first product receiving space for a firststack, into a second delivery position, in which the print shop productsare transported leading side first to said second stop disposed abovesaid second product receiving space for a second stack; adjustmentdevices including a first adjustment device and a second adjustmentdevice for changing a distance between said bottom of said first andsecond product receiving spaces and the horizontal plane; and anelectronic control device that, after an introduction of a print shopproduct into one of said product receiving spaces, actuates one of saidfirst and second adjustment devices in such a way that prior to theintroduction of a next print shop product, said bottom of said oneproduct receiving space is lowered by a distance that corresponds to athickness of the next print shop product to be introduced, saidelectronic control device configured to: control a selection of adesired one of said product receiving spaces and a lowering of saidbottom of a selected product receiving space; calculate a desiredposition of said second deflection roller in dependence on storedparameters of the print shop product; transmit data to said actuator,said actuator causing the desired position to be moved to; stack theprint shop products in said selected product receiving space; and removecompleted stacks of the print shop products from said selected productreceiving space.
 2. The device according to claim 1, further comprising:a guide; and a common frame, said second deflection roller and saidthird deflection roller are received on said common frame that isslidably guided in said guide fixed to said common frame.
 3. The deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising a drive motor, one of saidmovable second or third deflection rollers or one of said stationaryfirst or fourth deflection rollers is driven by said drive motor.
 4. Thedevice according to claim 3, wherein said drive motor includes anelectric motor received inside said second deflection roller and areduction gearing to drive said endlessly revolving transport belt. 5.The device according to claim 1, wherein said bottom of said firstproduct receiving space and/or said second product receiving spacecontains at least two bottom rollers and a respective further endlesstransport belt that is guided by said at least two bottom rollersdisposed in a generally horizontal plane and having an upper side theprint shop products introduced in said product receiving spaces aredeposited on a stack.
 6. The device according to claim 5, furthercomprising a drive motor causing the first and second stacks to be movedout, at least one of said two bottom rollers of said product receivingspaces is connected to said drive motor.
 7. The device according toclaim 1, wherein said bottom of said first product receiving spaceand/or said second product receiving space having a respective pluralityof rollers that are disposed adjacent to each other in a plane and onwhose upper side the print shop products introduced in said productreceiving spaces are deposited on a stack.
 8. The device according toclaim 1, further comprising: a further conveying device; and drivenpusher devices, one of said driven pusher devices assigned to each ofsaid product receiving spaces for pushing the print shop productsdeposited on top of each other on a stack in said product receivingspaces in a direction generally perpendicular to a conveying directionof the product stream out of said product receiving spaces and onto saidfurther conveying device.
 9. The device according to claim 8, whereinsaid further conveying device is selected from the group consisting ofan inclined roller track and a further revolving conveyor belt.
 10. Thedevice according to claim 1, wherein the print shop products areselected from the group consisting of book blocks and books.
 11. Adevice for delivering print shop products supplied in a product streamin at least two separate stacks, the device comprising: an endlesslyrevolving transport belt on which the print shop products are deposited;a stationary upstream upper first deflection roller; a movabledownstream upper second deflection roller disposed in a generallyhorizontal plane with said first deflection roller; a third deflectionroller disposed below said second deflection roller and jointly movablewith said second deflection roller; a stationary fourth deflectionroller disposed below said third deflection roller and guiding saidtransport belt; a first stop; a second stop; product receiving spacesincluding a first product receiving space having a bottom and a secondproduct receiving space having a bottom; an actuator for jointly movingsaid second and third deflection rollers in parallel with the horizontalplane from a first delivery position, in which the print shop productsare transported leading side first to said first stop disposed abovesaid first product receiving space for a first stack, into a seconddelivery position, in which the print shop products are transportedleading side first to said second stop disposed above said secondproduct receiving space for a second stack; adjustment devices includinga first adjustment device and a second adjustment device for changing adistance between said bottom of said first and second product receivingspaces and the horizontal plane; an electronic control device that,after an introduction of a print shop product into one of said productreceiving spaces, actuates one of said first and second adjustmentdevices in such a way that prior to the introduction of a next printshop product, said bottom of said one product receiving space is loweredby a distance that corresponds to a thickness of the next print shopproduct to be introduced, said electronic control device configured to:control a selection of a desired one of said product receiving spacesand a lowering of said bottom of a selected product receiving space;calculate a desired position of said second deflection roller independence on stored parameters of the print shop product; transmit datato said actuator, said actuator causing the desired position to be movedto; stack the print shop products in said selected product receivingspace; and remove completed stacks of the print shop products from saidselected product receiving space; a sensor; a memory; and wherein saidelectronic control device is coupled to said sensor and/or said memorythat detects and/or has saved a presence of the print shop products aswell as a type of the print shop products conveyed on said endlesslyrevolving transport belt in a region of said second deflection rollerand wherein said electronic control device actuates said actuator independence on signals of said sensors and/or said memory while saidendlessly revolving transport belt continues to revolve, in order tojointly move said second and third deflection rollers from the firstdelivery position into the second delivery position and back whilemaintaining a generally unchanged tension in said endlessly revolvingtransport belt.
 12. A method for delivering or stacking print shopproducts using the device according to claim 1, which comprises thesteps of: receiving the print shop products on the endlessly revolvingtransport belt from an upstream bookbindery machine; calculating adesired position of the second deflection roller in dependence on storedparameters of the print shop product; transmitting data to the actuator,which causes the desired position of the second deflection roller to bemoved to; stacking the print shop products in one of the productreceiving spaces; removing completed stacks; and actuating one of thefirst and second adjustment devices in such a way that prior to anintroduction of a print shop product, the bottom of the one productreceiving space is lowered by a distance that corresponds to a thicknessof the print shop product to be introduced.
 13. The method according toclaim 12, which comprises the steps of selecting the stored parametersfrom the group consisting of product format, product thickness, totalnumber of products in a job, and number of products to be stacked percompartment.